


One Night and a Missed Opportunity

by typingtrash



Category: Gotham (TV) RPF
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Coming In Pants, Grinding, M/M, Possibly Unrequited Crush, Semi-Public Sex, Underage Drinking, because America, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 20:08:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12689343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/typingtrash/pseuds/typingtrash
Summary: It's 2006 and Robin sees him at a club.-It's 2014 and Cory sees him across the room.





	One Night and a Missed Opportunity

While Chicago had certainly been a step up from Iowa, it didn't even  _ compare _ to New York. The clubs in New York took some getting used to. They were louder, busier, and somehow both fancier yet dirtier than the ones he'd tentatively explored in Chicago. Even after six years of living in New York, the packed crowds and blaring music that rattled his bones still occasionally took Robin by surprise.

At 28 he was still struggling to find and keep his confidence up, especially when he was in the middle of a packed club and Billy was thoroughly invested in chatting up whatever man had managed to catch his attention.

Turning away from his distracted best friend with a sigh, Robin scanned the throngs of people, sipping idly at his third drink of the night. His head had long since started getting hazy from the alcohol, so he’d started trying to pace himself, if somewhat belatedly, judging by the slow spin the room seemed to be in.

Making brief eye contact with a few other men while he looked around, he quickly darted his gaze away each time until he turned enough to face the bar. He froze, glass halfway to his lips as he stared.

A tall brunet was at the bar, shirtless and with a drink in hand as he swayed easily to the pounding music with what appeared to be a group of friends. The flashing coloured lights allowed Robin to catch glimpses of sharp features stretched into a lazy grin. He grew acutely aware of the not-so-alcohol-related burning in his cheeks when he caught himself watching the play of shadows and light across sloping, lean muscle with every smooth movement the man made.

Of course, that  _ had _ to be when Billy decided to return his attention to him.

“I think you're drooling,” Billy told him, leaning in to be heard and making Robin jump at being caught.

Flustered and indignant, he spun to face his friend. “I’m not  _ drooling _ ,” he huffed, though he undercut himself by glancing at the brown-haired man over his shoulder.

“Uh-huh, sure. Go talk to him,” Billy said flatly, eyebrow raised in disbelief.

“W-what? No, I'm not- Hey, what happened to your guy, huh?” Robin asked, scrambling for something to derail Billy.

Bestowing a shit-eating grin on his friend, Billy waved the question away. “Getting me a drink, don't worry about him. C’mon, Robin, you were  _ staring _ at that guy, so just go talk to him! He looks… well, shit, you have a great eye there. Go,” he ordered, giving Robin a small shove.

Squirming away from the other man's hands, Robin bounced back to his previous spot, hands now fidgeting with his glass. “I can't.”

Exasperated, Billy crossed his arms. “How'd you figure?”

“He's…” Robin made a helpless gesture in the man's general direction. “Look at him! I'm not- He won't notice me.”

“You don't know that. Maybe he has a thing for blond twinks.”

“Billy! I’m serious! And I’m not a twink!”

“Actually, you are. And you're also wrong about the other thing,” Billy retorted.

“No, I'm no- what other thing?”

The taller man jerked his head at a point somewhere behind Robin. “He's definitely noticed you.”

Eyes widening, Robin’s head snapped back around. Sure enough, the man they'd been arguing about was looking in their direction, an amused smirk on his face. Feeling his own face rapidly heat up, Robin turned back to Billy, panicked. “He's looking at us.”

“More at you, but yeah.”

“Why's he looking at us!?”

“Wild guess? I'd say because you were just flapping your arms around and pointing at him. Or maybe he just felt you staring at him.”

“Billy!” He pleaded, grabbing at his friend's arm.

Spotting his own current interest finally making his way back to them, Billy gave him an unhelpful shrug followed by another push. “You might as well go now that he's spotted you.”

Heart pounding in his chest, Robin stumbled a bit at the push and shot Billy a betrayed look that went entirely ignored as he greeted his date. Taking in a shuddering breath, Robin threw back the last of his drink and made his way over, keenly aware that he was being watched.

“H-hi,” he started weakly when he was finally in front of the other man. Up close he was several inches taller than him and he looked…  _ young _ . Definitely younger than Robin.

“Hi yourself,” the stranger replied, looking thoroughly amused but leaning into him all the same. “Friend ditch you?”

“You could say that,” Robin muttered, turning to glare at Billy. It was met with a glancing grin and a thumbs up from his friend, who had looked over just in time. Snapping his attention back to the man in front of him, he faltered when he realised he'd moved closer and was currently looking at his chest. Face heating, he quickly raised his eyes and fiddled with his glass some more. “I'm Robin.”

“Cory,” was the immediate reply, though Cory seemed to be more interested in looking him up and down. Robin shuffled in place, trying to muster the courage to say something, anything else, when the taller man beat him to it. “Want to dance?”

Blinking rapidly in surprise, Robin gawked up at Cory. “I-I, uh… what about your friends?” He squeaked out, gesturing at the small group behind Cory.

Arching an eyebrow, Cory cast them a brief glance. “Looks like they're doing just fine without me.” His brown eyes seemed to grow darker as he stepped closer and ducked down. “How about it, then? Dance with me, Robin,” he breathed into his ear, his lowered voice sending a shudder down Robin's spine.

“O-okay,” he said shakily, so focused on keeping his breathing steady that he didn't register Cory plucking his glass out of his hand or that he was being led into the middle of the crowd until he felt hands tentatively brushing along his sides.

Right.

Following the pulsating beat of the music, Cory’s movements were effortless and fluid, flowing with the bustle of the people around them, while Robin’s were stiff and uncertain. Cory’s hands intermittently brushed against him with a casual familiarity, bridging the bit of space that remained between them. Noting that the song was drawing to a close, Robin sucked in a long breath and closed the small gap to keep Cory in place. He was well aware that he would normally pass for a decent dancer, and he was determined to see if he could wipe Cory’s unwavering smirk off his face.

Listening to one song bleed into another, he willed himself to relax. It worked, gradually, and soon he was swaying, moving in sync with the taller man and letting the other dancers push them closer together. Taking his cue from Cory, Robin let his hands drift up to the man’s stomach, grinning innocently up at him when his eyebrows ticked up in pleased surprise while he let his fingers wander up to his chest.

Bowing slightly to speak into Robin’s ear so he could be heard, Cory pressed their chests flush together, effectively stopping his hands’ upward progress. “Getting more comfortable, huh?”

Face flushing but nevertheless feeling emboldened, Robin nodded and shifted to free his hands, slipping them up around Cory’s neck. The taller man’s eyes seemed to grow darker, and when Robin rolled his hips experimentally he had to bite back a small whimper when Cory’s hands landed heavily, almost possessively, on his hips as he mirrored Robin’s movement. Settling into a near obscene grind that still managed to follow the song's bassline, they clutched tightly at each other for the rest of the song, gazes locked on each other.

A particularly lewd swivel of their hips made Robin's breath catch in his throat as he belatedly recognised the uncomfortable tightness in his trousers. He must have made an accidental noise as a result but he could hardly bring himself to complain when Cory ducked back into his space and mouthed lightly at a spot just below his ear.

Cory gave a pointed thrust against him, causing his brain to come to a sudden halt when he registered the hard length digging into his hip through layers of clothing. His arms tightened around Cory’s neck and the noise that escaped his lips was tinged with enough eagerness to make his already flushed cheeks darken.

Suddenly Cory was pulling away, peeling himself off of Robin and turning his head to peer over the crowd. Both an apology and a complaint clamoured to the front of Robin’s mind at the loss of the other man's body but before he had the chance to voice either he was being dragged back into and through the throngs of dancers, Cory's warm hand wrapped tightly around his own.

Their impromptu trip came to an abrupt end when they escaped the dance floor into one of the club's darker corners and Robin had barely managed to look around before he found himself unceremoniously pinned to the nearest wall. Cory's hands had found their way back to his hips, pulling and pushing at him until Cory was standing between his legs and taking advantage of the position to grind into him.

Robin was distantly aware of his head knocking back against the wall as his lips parted on a moan but he hardly felt the dull impact, too preoccupied with tugging Cory down for a kiss. Panting into the taller man's mouth, he grasped at whatever part of him he could reach, hands slipping from Cory's face to his shoulders, to his back. Heat coiled in his belly as he tried to coordinate the rocking of their hips into something not quite as desperate, but the moment Cory shifted to press messy kisses to the side of his face and groaned his name against his temple in a low rasp, Robin bucked hard and came, whimpering as the inside of his underwear grew wet and sticky.

He had just come in his pants like a teenager. In a  _ club _ , no less.

His eyes fluttered shut while he tried to catch his breath. The music was still pounding away and the buzz of alcohol was slowly beginning to fade as he recovered but he blinked his eyes open when he realised that Cory had stopped moving against him.

Cory was staring down at him, jaw slack, and looking distinctly awed as Robin met his eyes, though there was still that hunger that had first appeared on the dance floor burning in his expression. 

Quickly growing flustered by the attention, Robin dropped his gaze, mouth twitching into a frown when he saw the prominent erection still tenting Cory’s pants. He'd barely managed to brush his fingers against the bulge before his hand was snatched up and pulled away from its intended goal.

“Cory-?”

“I want to fuck you,” Cory breathed, expression edging into something wild and barely contained that almost made Robin’s knees buckle.

Any colour that had slowly drained out of his face came back full force, leaving Robin overheated and dizzy. “I- Here?”

Hand tightening around Robin’s still captive wrist, Cory almost seemed to consider the idea but he eventually shook his head, movements jerky as he raised Robin’s hand to his mouth and licked a line up the centre of his palm. “Not here. Your place.”

Biting his lip as he watched Cory’s tongue travel up his hand, Robin shivered and shifted his weight. Despite the urge to immediately agree, he forced himself to ask the question burning in his mind. “Why? I can just-” He made a jerking motion with his free hand and nodded down at Cory's erection.

The feverish look on Cory's face eased back into a smirk as he nipped at Robin’s fingers, eyes locked on his. He rolled his hips slowly with a soft groan. “What can I say, Robin? You look extremely fuckable, especially when you're coming in your pants. Made me want to make you come again, but with my cock buried inside you this time. Thoughts?”

Feeling incredibly thankful for the wall at his back as he struggled to keep himself from sliding down it, Robin made a soft sound in the back of his throat, already trying to imagine what it would be like. Pushing himself up off the wall, he latched onto Cory’s hand and dragged him along as he made a beeline for the exit. 

* * *

 

“How old are you?” The question was out before he could stop himself.

It had been nagging at him as he snuck glances at Cory and was once again struck by how  _ young _ he looked.

Cory turned from the taxi’s window to face him, surprise flitting across his face before he grinned. “Twenty. I snuck into the club,” he replied. Was that a wink?

_ Twenty _ .

Robin sank deeper into his seat, staring incredulously at the back of the driver’s headrest and resenting the tacky stickiness in his underwear.

“Why? How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight.”

The silence that greeted him finally broke Robin out of his reverie and he turned to look at the younger man, raising an eyebrow at the genuinely startled look he was giving him. “What?”

“...you're kidding.”

“I'm really not.”

A disbelieving laugh startled Robin into sitting back up.

“You  _ really _ don't look it. I thought you were… what, twenty-five? At most?”

Hunching his shoulders, Robin frowned guardedly at the younger man. “Nope. Definitely twenty-eight. Sorry.”

The amusement faded from Cory’s face as they regarded each other. “It doesn't change anything, you know. I'm not backing out just because you're older than I thought you were.” Uncertainty slowly replaced the amusement, making Cory fidget in his seat. “Does, uh. You're not changing  _ your _ mind, are you? Because I'm younger?”

Taking a moment to think, Robin considered the man beside him before finally shaking his head. “No, I was just… surprised? The confidence and the height threw me off.”

Cory considered him for a second before leaning across the seat, a small grin starting to twitch at the corners of his mouth. “Want to know something?”

“If you're going to tell me that you're even  _ younger _ -”

“I've never topped before,” he said lowly, glancing over to check whether their driver was paying attention or not.

Robin stopped at that. He ran through the night's events in his head before narrowing his eyes. “Bullshit.”

“Afraid not,” Cory replied cheerily, grin overtaking his face.

“Then what was all that back at the club? Just talk?” Robin whispered, remembering the sure and possessive way Cory had moved.

Cory’s eyes grew heavy-lidded as he looked at Robin, still leaning in as his grin morphed back into his now familiar smirk. “Oh, no, I was completely serious. I plan to fuck you. As in: I  _ am _ going to see what it's like to have you stretched around my cock,” he said, the pitch of his voice dropping as he inched closer to nip at Robin’s earlobe.

Fighting back his persistent blush as his mind ran with the mental image painted for him, Robin shivered in place and darted a glance at Cory. “Why change it up now?” He asked, voice coming out higher than he would have liked.

Falling back into his seat, Cory simply shot him a pleased look. “There's just something about you.”

* * *

 

Robin had barely gotten the door shut behind them before Cory was crowding him back against it, already claiming his mouth in a lewd kiss. He melted into it with little complaint.

Only when he felt the jut of Cory’s clothed cock pressing against his hip did he shove at the taller man's bare chest, panting heavily when Cory reluctantly moved back. In his daze he missed the way Cory’s eyes appeared to fixate on his mouth. But the moment his tongue flicked out along his lower lip, he found himself being jerked forward into Cory’s chest while the man's mouth latched onto his neck, drawing a high-pitched whine out of Robin as he helplessly exposed more of his throat to him. By the time Cory finally released him, Robin was clutching at him to remain standing. Breath ragged, he was already painfully hard and, if Cory’s satisfied expression was any indication, the expanse of his throat was littered with rapidly darkening bruises.

“Bedroom,” he said hoarsely, one hand shooting out to tug Cory in the right direction.

They'd almost made it to his room when their progress came to an abrupt stop as Cory edged up behind him to trap Robin against the door frame. An arm snaked around his waist possessively, keeping him in place while the taller man returned to his apparently newly discovered need to suck as many marks as he could into Robin's exposed skin.

Making an impatient noise into the wood of the door frame, Robin started on the buttons of his shirt, only to have his hands batted away the moment he'd undone the last button. His shirt was promptly wrenched off his shoulders but came to a strategic stop at his elbows, effectively trapping his arms as he squirmed in the hold that had quickly returned to his waist.

“Cory-” The second syllable came out strangled, petering out into a soft moan as Cory’s ravenous mouth made its way across the line of his shoulders.

“Again,” was rasped, demanding, against the skin of his shoulder blade.

Hazily, Robin craned his neck to glance behind him, his concentration shot when Cory’s hands started on his pants. “Wha-?”

Making quick work of his button and fly, Cory freed him from the tacky confines of his long soiled clothing, letting them drop to the floor while Robin breathed a sigh of relief. “Again,” Cory repeated, mouth now engaged in biting a line back up to his ear. “Say my name again.” His hand reached around Robin to wrap loosely around his cock where it bobbed between his legs, thumbnail dragging deliberately up his length.

Releasing a startled cry, Robin bucked into the other man's hand and redoubled his efforts to free himself of his now tangled shirt. “Cory! Please,  _ oh _ , please just…”

“Just?”

Robin could  _ hear _ the smirk in Cory’s voice.

Twisting as much as he could, trapped by his own clothing and the weight of Cory’s taller frame as he was, he glared petulantly. “You said you wanted to fuck me.”

From what he could see of Cory’s face, his eyes seemed to gleam. “I do. And I'm going to.”

Finally managing to pull an arm free of his twisted shirt, Robin reached behind himself before he could rethink it, fingers locating and brushing over the unmistakable bulge in the front of Cory’s pants. Emboldened by the sharp intake of breath behind him, he palmed the clothed erection, groaning in turn when the hand around his own cock tightened. “Yeah? Well your cock is  _ still _ not in me so I'm beginning to think you're all talk,” he challenged, though the eager wavering of his voice undermined his tone.

It worked, though. With a pointed thrust into the hand on him, Cory  _ finally _ yanked him into the awaiting bedroom, stabilizing Robin long enough to keep him from tripping over the jeans tangled around his ankles as they pitched towards the bed. However, as soon as they reached it he let momentum and clothing topple the older man, watching him land and bounce on the mattress with an undignified squeak.

They stared at each other for a long moment before they broke into a flurry of movement, disposing of their remaining obstructive clothes with a hasty urgency. The moment that Cory joined him on the bed, settling between Robin’s parted legs and grinding forward to press their cocks together, they let out twin groans of delight.

Able to take in the sight of Cory’s fully naked form at last, Robin pressed up against him, hands roaming freely over his chest and shoulders only to slip down. Taking his turn to begin leaving marks of his own at Cory’s neck, he grabbed at the other man's ass and hitched a leg around him, mouth falling open to pant wetly as he used the leverage to rut shamelessly against Cory.

The friction stopped as soon as it started, causing Robin to let out a forlorn noise while Cory pinned his hips to the bed and untangled himself from him. His disappointment turned out to be short-lived as well. Hips twitching against the hand holding him down, he gasped as slick fingers circled his hole and wasted no time in pressing into him. In his single-minded distraction he hadn't noticed the small bottle make its way into Cory’s hand from who knows where.

Robin hissed softly at the intrusion but soon enough had adjusted to the burning stretch. Any attempt he made at moving his hips was quickly thwarted by Cory pressing down with his free hand to keep him still, though the fingers inside him ever stopped their rough scissoring. Whining plaintively, Robin sat up as best he could, flinging an arm over Cory’s shoulder to anchor him as he dragged the younger man into another kiss.

When Cory pushed a third finger into him and struck his bundle of nerves, Robin jerked violently and cried out, the noise mostly lost against Cory’s mouth. Deciding he'd had enough preparation, he fumbled blindly until his hand closed around Cory’s thick length. “Oh,” he breathed, inching backwards to watch his thumb swipe over the leaking tip and delighting in the resulting deep groan that earned him. 

All at once Robin found himself on his back again, achingly empty but with Cory positioning himself between his spread legs and rolling a condom on. “Please,” he found himself whispering hoarsely, mind foggy with anticipation, “please, Cory, I can take it.”

There was the briefest flicker of hesitation on Cory's face and suddenly Robin remembered his confession in the cab. 

_ I’ve never topped before. _

Blinking to try to clear his mind, Robin opened his mouth, ready to ask if he wanted to keep going. The half-formed question gave way to a loud wail as Cory moved, sinking into him inch by agonising inch.

Faint tremors ran through him until Cory was fully sheathed and Robin struggled to breathe, sporadically clenching around the cock buried inside him. 

Above him, Cory had fallen forward onto his elbows, his taller frame covering him entirely. Chest heaving, the man shuddered as he bent down to mouth over Robin’s collarbone. “Fuck.  _ Fuck _ , you're so…  _ tight _ ,” he mumbled down by Robin’s neck, causing a dark flush to spread across his cheeks. 

Before he could think of a response, Cory was pulling back and the wet slide of it had Robin scrabbling for purchase in the sheets, his back arching as Cory swiftly thrust back in. Cory's lips were parted, every gasp of air puffing over Robin’s skin with each pump of Cory’s hips.

“Oh, oh, y-yes,” he broke off into a strangled moan after a particularly hard thrust, hands darting up to cling to whatever part of Cory he could grasp.

Cock trapped between their bellies and leaking profusely, Robin could only hold on as Cory pounded into him, hips snapping and lips pressed to his ear. “P-perfect, Robin… so hot and tight… you look so good like this, fuck…”

Heat coiled in Robin’s stomach again and he moaned in response, voice climbing higher. Suddenly Cory’s hand slipped between them and he cried out as fingers curled around his cock, jerking him in time with Cory’s thrusts. It didn't take long for him to come after that, spilling messily over Cory’s fingers as he whimpered through his orgasm and Cory whispered obscenely in his ear.

His trembling hands slid into Cory’s hair, carding through brown strands and mussing them further. Taking Cory’s appreciative noise as encouragement, Robin tugged sharply. Immediately, Cory jackknifed and bit down on Robin's shoulder as he came hard, hips stuttering.

They lay together in a sweaty tangle, breathing harshly as they caught their breath. Any minute shift was met with a quiet gasp from the other, both of them still overly sensitive and thrumming with aftershocks.

Eventually, and with great reluctance, they managed to separate and clean themselves up. Robin caught sight of his reflection as he lingered in the bathroom and inhaled sharply, eyes tracing over the purpling handprints at his hips and the mess of hickeys reaching from the expanse of his throat to the tops of his shoulders. Huffing, he made his way back to his room, only to stop when he spotted Cory in the hallway, already dressed.

“Are you leaving already?” He hated himself for the disappointment colouring his voice.

Lifting a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, Cory stared down at the floor. “I have a flight back home tomorrow morning. Figured I should at least  _ try _ to get some sleep.” He raised his gaze to meet Robin's stare with a small smirk. “If I stay I'm definitely not going to sleep much and probably going to miss my flight.”

Blushing faintly, Robin gave a small nod of understanding, shuffling as he remembered his current state of undress. It wouldn't be his first one-night stand but seeing Cory prepared to leave still made something in his chest clench. “Well. Uh. This was… It was…”

He abruptly found himself being tugged forward into a brief kiss. When they parted, Cory fixated on the marks he'd left littered across Robin’s skin and his lips twitched into a satisfied smile, a possessive gleam in sparking in his eyes. “Amazing, is what it was,” he said simply.

Eyeing the few hickeys he'd left himself, Robin licked his lips, sorely tempted to haul the taller man back to bed and prove his assumption about missing his flight correct. Instead, he forced himself to see him out the door, exchanging quiet goodbyes and a few more lingering brushes of their hands before Cory disappeared.

* * *

 

How he managed to land such a significant role was beyond him. Edward Nygma, the  _ Riddler _ . Given, he wasn't the Riddler yet, and wouldn't be for some time, but  _ still. _

Fidgeting nervously, Cory darted a glance up at the door at the end of the hallway. His first official table-read as part of the cast of  _ Gotham _ was just beyond that door, and the nerves had nearly gotten the better of him on his way over.

Breathing deeply, he made his way over and ducked into the room, taking a quick glance around the room. He had barely taken a couple of steps before he was accosted by a brightly grinning girl.

Fifteen minutes later he'd been steered around the room by the girl, Camren, and introduced to the majority of the cast. His nerves had settled and an easy grin had replaced the uncertainty from earlier. He hovered around Ben and Donal, having already ascertained that a good chunk of his scenes would be with them. A commotion broke out behind them and Cory turned, peering curiously over the heads of his castmates only to freeze after a moment of confusion.

Camren was clamouring for someone else's attention now, apparently eager to share a photo on her phone. And there, paying rapt attention, was the one man Cory thought would remain a fond, if bittersweet memory, never to be seen again after some eight years. Robin’s blond hair was now dyed black but it was  _ him _ . Cory watched in a daze, feeling as if all the air in his lungs had left him as Robin and Camren cooed at whatever was on Camren’s screen. Seemingly sensing the eyes on him, Robin looked up and Cory’s heart hammered in his chest as that one night flashed through his mind when they made eye contact.

A broad smile split Robin's face as soon as he recognised him and Cory’s stomach twisted in response. It took all of a minute for Robin to pull himself away from Camren but he soon found himself walking over to meet him, staring down at the older man as his mouth worked soundlessly.

Robin tugged him into a hug, arms wrapping around him with a happy laugh as Cory returned the embrace, half focused on the memory of the same man pulling him into a kiss in the corner of a club.

“Hi! It's been… wow, long enough for you to stop sneaking into clubs,” he said wryly. “I didn't know you were an actor!” Robin pulled away to look up at him, green eyes warm and alight, though his hands remained on Cory’s biceps.

“Yeah, well, we didn't really do much talking, so I don't blame you,” he said faintly, eyes still wide in disbelief.

Robin blinked and a second later a light blush had spread across his face, which he tried to hide by ducking his head. A dull longing struck Cory at the sight, and he stepped closer, one hand inching up to brush along the underside of Robin's arm. “How have you been? You look good, the black hair suits you,” he blurted out with a lopsided grin.

The shorter man peeked up at him briefly, a self-conscious hand coming up to run through his hair uncertainly. “You think so? They had me dye it for the role and… I don't know. It's not too dark?”

Shaking his head quickly, Cory shuffled a bit closer. “Nope. I like it, it's a good look.”

The still-present blush darkened slightly. “...thank you. I’m still not convinced but Dickie says- oh!” Robin fell back a couple of steps, buzzing with excitement. He held up his left hand.

Nonplussed, Cory’s eyes darted between Robin’s face and his hand until he caught the glint of silver on his ring finger. His stomach dropped. The small hope that had flared up the moment he recognised the other man was abruptly doused, and Cory had to fight to keep his face from showing the bitter disappointment engulfing him.

_ Act, then. _

Schooling his features into a pleasantly surprised mask, Cory raised an eyebrow. “You started accessorizing?”

Laughing, Robin seemed to bounce where he stood. “I got married! Almost three years already!”

“O-oh. Wow. Congratulations, Robin,” he said, not entirely sure if his smile was reaching his eyes.

Three years. Three years too late. Of course.

Caught up in his own bubble of excitement, Robin missed the brief flash of defeat on Cory’s face.

Their conversation was soon cut off when the producer and the first episode's director made their way into the room, and Cory was grateful for the chance to escape. Fleeing from Robin with a partly genuine promise to catch up later, he settled into his assigned seat and stared intently at the script in front of him.

From time to time he caught himself looking over at Robin throughout the rest of the table-read and quickly glanced away when the man happened to be looking back. The memory of Robin’s voice moaning his name while he looked up at him through half-lidded eyes nearly made him miss his cue once or twice, maybe even a few times.

Gritting his teeth when they moved on to a scene that didn't involve him, Cory narrowed his eyes at the silver band shining at him mockingly from Robin's hand.

It had been too much to hope for anyway.


End file.
